A method for semiautomatic tracing and morphological measuring of neurite outgrowth from DIC sequences

We present a method for semi-automatic tracing and measuring of neurite outgrowth from time-lapse sequences of digital Nomarski micrographs. The algorithm is based on neurite ridge extraction and characterization from a single frame, followed by an automatic neurite tracking and measurement along the image sequence. Our method was tested with two sequences one containing 29 and other with 77 frames taken at intervals of 2 min. Our method rendered comparable length measurements but better time performance than measurements made by use of certain public software.